Barys Risks Missing on Gagarin Cup Playoffs
ASTANA – HC Barys Astana will host Traktor Chelyabinsk Jan. 27 in what will be the Kazakh team’s last home match in the regular season of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). During the past two weeks, Barys played four games at the Barys Arena (an informal name for the still nameless stadium), with mixed fortune.…
Win Streak Puts Barys within Shot at Playoffs, Team Ranks Seventh in Eastern Conference
ASTANA – The last week of 2015 and the first one of 2016 saw the Barys Astana hockey club winning five out of its six encounters in the regular season of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). First, the Kazakh team crushed Metallurg Novokuznetsk in an away game, 6-2. This was followed by an equally resounding…
Barys Makes Progress as KHL Season Enters Second Half
ASTANA – Having played 31 games by last weekend, Barys Astana has crossed the half-season mark in the eighth regular season of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). Only in recent weeks has Barys begun hosting games in its new arena. Still lacking an official name, it has been nicknamed Barys Arena by sport experts and…
Barys Crawls Upwards
ASTANA – While on tour in the European part of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), ex-coach of the Astana Barys Andrei Nazarov took the reins of the team again on Oct. 21 following the resignation of Yerlan Sagimbayev. The 41-year old Russian joined the team in Slovakia, where the Barys stood against local favourites Slovan…
Barys Near Bottom of KHL After 18 Games
ASTANA – Thirteen is considered an unlucky number in Russian folklore, and indeed, Barys Astana’s 13th game of this, its eighth season in the Continental Hockey League (KHL) turned out to be a bad one for the team’s coach Yerlan Sagymbayev. After going down 1-4 against Avangard Omsk on Barys’s home ice, Sagymbayev along with…
Pakistan Has Always Sought ‘Connectivity with Central Asia,’ PM Sharif Says
Ahead of his visit to Astana Aug. 25-26, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shared his views on the potential of bilateral cooperation, issues of regional security and cooperation, the situation in Afghanistan, the fight against the so-called Islamic State, Pakistan’s cultural diplomacy as well as other issues in an interview…
Yevgeny Primakov: “Kazakhstan Is Capable of Handling Everything”
At the end of June in Moscow, people bid final farewell to Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, a prominent Russian politician of global significance and scholar with colossal credibility in the Russian community and international arena who died June 26. “The peacemaking activity of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov brought him true respect in many countries,” noted Kazakh President…
Kazakhstan Ranks 17th in Latest National Hockey Teams Ranking
ASTANA – On the heels of Kazakhstan’s return to the top echelon of hockey with its performance in Group A of the Ice Hockey World Championships earlier this month, the country has been once again ranked 17th in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Canada, Russia and Sweden are the IIHF’s top…
Team Kazakhstan Returns to World Hockey’s Elite Division
ASTANA – Team Kazakhstan followed up its confident start at the Ice Hockey World Championships, which saw them cruise past their Ukrainian and Hungarian rivals, with a crushing defeat of Japan, a hard-fought match against Poland – and a ticket to the World Championships. The beginning of the championship ignited solid optimism among Kazakh fans,…
Kairat Almaty Wins Its Second UEFA Futsal Cup
Almaty Akim (Mayor) Akhmetzhan Yessimov met May 4 with the Kairat Almaty club to mark their second Futsal UEFA Cup win. The club claimed the cup, one of Europe’s most prestigious tournaments in Futsal, after winning the final 3:2 against FC Barcelona on April 26 in Lisbon, Portugal. “I observed the entire game on TV…
Shavkat, My Friend
On April 30, Shavkat Rahmatullaev would have turned 66 years old. Three weeks before his birthday, a terrible disease took his life. Many, including his relatives, found out about his fatal illness only after his death. He didn’t want his illness to bring anyone any unnecessary discomfort, this was his nature. Journalists in our country…
Hard-Earned Points for Barys
Barys Astana held a number of regular season matches in the Continental Hockey League championship on the New Year Eve and after the New Year. On Dec.25, the Christmas day, Barys played a magnificent match in Magnitogorsk with the local Mettalurg, the current holder of the Gagarin Cup, KHL’s top title. Main and additional time…
Sabina Altynbekova: Popularity Is Both a Challenge and a Gift
ASTANA – Sabina Altynbekova, 18, is a member of Kazakhstan’s women’s junior national volleyball team. She hails from the West Kazakhstan city of Aktobe. She shot to stardom in East Asia last summer, but not exactly because of her volleyball skill. Rather, Chinese fans took notice of Altynbekova’s natural beauty, which many of her new…
Professionalism, Motivation Behind Finland’s Success as Peacemaker, Ahtisaari Says
HELSINKI – As Finland celebrated the Day of the Peacemaker last month, The Astana Times interviewed former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari to talk about his country’s experience and his views on the role of the United Nations in the modern world. Finland’s ability to resolve conflicts is considered one of your…
Ten Achieves Personal Scoring Record, Wins Bronze at France Figure Skating Grand Prix
Kazakhstan’s famous figure skater Denis Ten set a new personal record in the short programme at the Nov. 24 regular Grand Prix in France, gaining the best evaluation in his career of 91.78 points. Ten took the points lead at the end of the first part of the programme. However, his performance in the optional…
Nadal and Tsonga Play in Astana
ASTANA – Much excitement was generated by the Sept. 24 arrival in Astana of world famous Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal and his playing partner French athlete Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The two players held a press conference, spoke to students at Nazarbayev University and seemed surprised by the level of attention they received. They also met…
Sports Help Countries Introduce Themselves to the World, Says Sports Press Association President
BAKU – Since 1995, July 2 has been recognised as World Sports Journalists Day, designated as such at the initiative of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). Founded on July 2, 1924, in Paris, the AIPS today comprises more than 9,500 journalists and 150 national journalists’ unions, including the Kazakhstan Sports Press Associationand 45 Kazakh…
Soviet Soldiers’ Graffiti on Reichstag Open to Public
BERLIN – After seizing the Reichstag in May 1945 and raising their flag on its roof, Soviet soldiers left their marks in other ways, writing their names, feelings, thoughts and hometowns – including Almaty – on the walls of the famous building. The flag has long since changed, but many of the inscriptions remain, including…
Kazakhstan’s Women’s Football Team Advances in World Cup Qualifier
ASTANA – In the qualifying match for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, Kazakhstan defeated Bulgaria 4-1 here on May 7. From the very beginning of the match, the visiting team was kept on the defensive and during the ninth minute, Madina Zhanatayeva opened the scoring table with a spectacular free kick that penetrated the Bulgarian…
FM Idrissov Visits Moscow to Promote Ties with Russia and Within CSTO
MOSCOW – Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov began his official visit to Russia on April 3, seeking to promote ties with the country’s northern neighbour, including with a view of the upcoming establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The visit began with Idrissov’s annual bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, where they…
Barys Players Join KHL Stars on Ice in Bratislava
BRATISLAVA – The Continental Hockey League’s (KHL) Western Conference won the league’s All-Star game for the first time in six years, defeating the Eastern Conference 18-16 in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Jan. 11 in front of 10,000 fans. The All-Star game, which is more of an ice show than a match, featured Astana Barys stars Brandon…
Chess Princess Joins Barys at People’s Favourite Ceremony
ASTANA – Politicians, officials, business people, bohemia, and the media got together on Dec. 19 for the third annual ceremony of awarding prizes “People’s Favourite 2013”. Numerous nominations included the best politician, pop star, official, journalist, blogger, businessman, public figure, political scientist, and online media were chosen. Overall, 367 nominees competed for 14 nominations. Zhansaya…
At OSCE Meeting, Idrissov Calls for United and Equal Security in Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Area
KYIV – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov participated in the 20th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Ukrainian capital on Dec. 5-6, urging fellow participating states to continue working towards a united and indivisible security in the Euro-Atlantic and…
Barys Among KHL Leaders Halfway through Season
Halfway through the Continental Hockey League’s (KHL) sixth season, Astana’s Barys hockey team is one of the league’s leading teams with 108 goals scored and was the first team to score more than 100 goals this season. Their success has come following early-season European tour matches against Dinamo, Moscow CSKA, Slovan in Bratislava and Lion…
Barys in KHL Top Three at Break
ASTANA, Nov. 12 – More than a third of the way into the Continental Hockey League’s (KHL) sixth season, Astana’s Barys is in third place in the league and at the head of the Chernyshev division. Going into the current break in the season, Barys has earned 52 points to lead the Chernyshev division and…
